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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §1.8.5.pr-1.8.5.1

Public Use and Ownership of Riverbanks and Shore Shelters

Passage 153 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Gaius states that the use of riverbanks is public under the law of nations, listing permitted activities, while clarifying that ownership of the banks and their trees remains with the adjacent landowners, and grants sea fishermen the right to build temporary shelters on the shore.

[GAIUS libro secundo rerum cottidianarum siue aureorum. ] §1.8.5.prRiparum usus publicus est iure gentium sicut ipsius fluminis.
[GAIUS, Everyday Matters or Golden Words, book 2.] The use of riverbanks is public by the law of nations, just like that of the river itself.
itaque nauem ad eas appellere, funes ex arboribus ibi natis religare, retia siccare et ex mare reducere, onus aliquid in his reponere cuilibet liberum est, sicuti per ipsum flumen nauigare.
Therefore, anyone is free to bring a ship to them, to tie ropes to the trees growing there, to dry nets and draw them up from the sea, and to deposit any load on them, just as they are free to navigate through the river itself.
sed proprietas illorum est, quorum praediis haerent: qua de causa arbores quoque in his natae eorundem sunt.
But their ownership belongs to those to whose estates they are adjacent; for which reason, the trees also which grow on them belong to the same persons.
§1.8.5.1In mare piscantibus liberum est casam in litore ponere, in qua se recipiant,
Those fishing in the sea are free to place a cottage on the shore in which they may shelter themselves,

Notes

  1. §1.8.5.prex mare reducere — The direct object of the transitive verb `reducere` (to draw back) is the preceding noun `retia` (nets). The word `mare` is used here as an ablative after the preposition `ex` (from), where classical usage would typically require `mari`.
  2. §1.8.5.prquorum praediis haerent — The antecedent of the relative pronoun `quorum` (of whom) is the preceding `illorum` (of those). The unexpressed subject of the intransitive verb `haerent` (are adjacent) is contextually the riverbanks (`ripae`), and `praediis` (estates) is in the dative case, governed by `haerent`.
  3. §1.8.5.1In mare piscantibus — The present participle `piscantibus` (those fishing) is in the dative plural, serving as the dative of reference for `liberum est` (it is free). In `in mare` (into the sea), `mare` is in the accusative, suggesting movement into the sea to fish, though it may also stand for the ablative `in mari` (in the sea).
  4. §1.8.5.1in qua se recipiant — The antecedent of the relative pronoun `qua` is `casam` (cottage). The relative clause with the subjunctive `recipiant` expresses purpose ('a cottage in which they may shelter') or characteristic.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §1.8.5.pr-1.8.5.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.8.5.pr-1.8.5.1

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